Georgian official urges domestic violence victims to speak out
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Georgia is urging all victims of domestic violence to speak out and get help.
Today the country's Minister of Internal Affairs, Giorgi Mgebrishvili, presented the Ministry’s new campaign against domestic violence.
He urged victims not to be scared to report incidences and said victims could rely on police to adequately deal with incidences of violence when it occurred within a family.
I’m addressing all victims – don’t remain silent when it comes to domestic violence. Don’t be scared. Our entire agency, all 40,000 people, stand beside you and will protect you,” Mgebrishvili said.
Fighting domestic violence was one of top priorities of the Ministry, said Mgebrishvili.
The new campaign aimed to inform the public about the support and services available to victims of domestic violence. The campaign was part of a broader project to prevent domestic violence, funded by the European Union (EU).
Mgebrishvili said thanks to the EU project, society was becoming more informed, police were better trained and a number of investigations into cases of domestic violence has significantly increased in recent times.
New crisis centre opens in Tbilisi
The country’s first crisis centre for victims of domestic violence has opened in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Tchikaidze is pledging the country will intensify its efforts to stop domestic violence in Georgia.
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili believes a domestic violence problem in Georgia needs to be addressed urgently.
Dubravka Simonovic, who was on her first official visit to Georgia, said violence against women should be spoken about in society instead of it being regarded as "private, family business”.
A law drafted by the Georgian Interior Ministry has come into force today which makes the punishment for certain forms of domestic violence more severe. The law also reads that should a restraining order be violated, an individual will face criminal charges.
Abusing a family member will become punishable by two years in prison instead of the current one year.The punishment will be more severe if the act of violence is committed in the presence of a minor.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has presented a bill to the government of Georgia which aims to prevent domestic violence and ensure better protection and further support for victims of violence.
Georgian law enforcers have issued 7,762 restraining orders in the first nine months of 2019, while the total figure from last year was 7,646.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvii met with representatives of the public, local non-governmental and international organisations to discuss steps to be taken against domestic violence in the country.
Police have detained a Latvian citizen in Georgia’s coastal city of Batumi for physical and psychological violence against his wife and failure to comply with the requirements of a restraining order.
Police have detained a 58-year-old woman for physical and psychological violence against her daughter-in-law, which led to the latter’s attempting suicide.
A 35-year-old man wounded a patrol police officer called by the man’s wife due to a domestic conflict in the Temka settlement of Tbilisi earlier today.
The son of the ruling Georgian Dream party MP Koba Kobaladze has been charged with violence for attacking a man on June 24 in Tbilisi, with five other individuals.
An individual, identified as G.I. and born in 1990, was detained in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti for domestic violence and threat as well as sexual assault against a minor.